Understanding cultural tourism through the themes of history and identity in postmodern novels: the white castle

Ãœmit Åžengel (), Zeki CoÅŸkun () and Sena Uz ()
Additional contact information
Ümit Şengel: Sakarya University of Applied Science, Sakarya, Türkiye
Zeki Coşkun: Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul, Türkiye
Sena Uz: Sakarya University of Applied Science, Sakarya, Türkiye

CACTUS - The Tourism Journal for Research, Education, Culture and Soul, 2025, vol. 32, issue 1

Abstract: Cultural tourism emerges from various sources rooted in social life. Novels that explore social elements such as history, identity, and culture serve as important written sources of information, stimulating tourists’ interest in destinations. Although concepts like history and identity are abstract, they can become significant attractions when highlighted by authors’ descriptive abilities within the narrative, influencing readers and arousing their curiosity. In this context, the study aims to identify the roles of novels in cultural tourism by examining the themes of history and identity in postmodern novels. The study used the autoethnographic method and analysed Orhan Pamuk’s “The White Castle,†which compares East and West through cultural values such as history and identity, as it was considered suitable for the study’s purpose. The results indicate that the novel presents cultural differences through elements such as identity, history, religion, city, language, art, and gastronomy. The novel vividly conveys these cultural differences through the interplay of plot and description.

Keywords: postmodern novel; cultural tourism; history; identity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z1 Z32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://cactus-journal-of-tourism.ase.ro/wp-conten ... art5_II.3-Sengel.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bum:cactus:cactus-2025-14

Access Statistics for this article

CACTUS - The Tourism Journal for Research, Education, Culture and Soul is currently edited by CACTUS Editorial Team

More articles in CACTUS - The Tourism Journal for Research, Education, Culture and Soul from Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CACTUS Editorial Team ().